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Is your wireless provider running rings around you?
移动电话的用户们可曾意识到，手机制造商们要远比你们精明得多？
If you are one of an estimated 80 million cell-phone users inthe United States,or soon plan to join their ranks,some wirelessproviders prefer for you to be clueless about their secrets.
1."Don't count on us in an emergency."Many cellular usersbelieve their service can be a lifesaver.That's what a formernurse in the Orlando area thought.Driving by a jogging trail,she saw a man on inline skates collapse.She whipped out hercell phone and called 911.
"The call should have been picked up by the nearest cell towerand trausmitted to the Orange County Sheriff's office,"explainsBruce Thorburn,communications-systems director for Lake County,Florida.Instead,the call was picked up by a 911 operator in thewrong county,and subsequent problems transferring the call tothe right office cost the skater precious minutes.When an EMSteam finally reached the skater,who'd suffered a heart attack,he was dead.
"It's reprehensible,"says Thorburn.If you think you can relyon a cell phone to help you in any emergency,think again.
Even if you do get through,you could be in trouble.Most policedepartments cannot track the location of emergency cell callswith any accuracy.Good thing the Federal Communications Commissionis requiring the wireless industry to offer location systems forphones in the year 2001.
2."Cell phones will never replace home phones."Have you everdreamed of coming home and"cutting the cord"of your family,announcing a total switch to cell phones?Assuming your householdhas three or more people,you would be nuts.
This strategy might work-if you don't mind paying for incomingcalls,can deal with patchy coverage in some areas and have noneed for a modem connection to the Internet.
Arguably.for a tiny percentage of people,such as highly mobilesingles who depend on the perks that often come free withdigital cell phones(like caller ll)and voice mail),it could bea good thing.
Be careful,though.If you frequently go over the minutes prescribedby your plan,you may end up paying more than you expected.
3."Our dead zones can make your life miserable."Steve Geimann,asenior editor of Communications Daily,was half a mile away fromSouth Carolina's state capitol when he realized he couldn'treceive incoming phone calls.The situation persisted for a coupleof days.
Wait,there's more.Recalls Geimann."In Virginia's ShenandoahValey,I could have used my cell phone,but I would have had topay for the call with my credit card."It turns out that AT&TWireless—which plays up its sea-to-sea reach in its ads-hadneither its own service nor a partnership with a carrier inthat locale at the time."If you look at the company's financials,it says that four percent of the country is not covered,"hesays."But if they say 'national,'it should be national."
So before signing on with a carrier,make sure that the areasimportant to you are covered.
4."Confused people may be our best customers."Samuel Greenlawof Barnstead,N.H.,had signed up with Bell Atlantic Mobile.Hisplan promised no land-line charges—fess applied when a callgoes from a cell phone to a land-line phone—within his localcalling area.
When such charges appeared on his bill,he took it up with BellAtlantic Mobile.The company adjusted the charges,but continuedto issue new ones.Greenlaw brought up the problem with hisracquetball partner,Charles Grau,former head of the stateattorney general's Consumer Protection Division.Gran filed alawsuit on behalf of Greenlaw and others in New Hampshire.Realizing that it had been billing customers erroneously.BellAtlantic Mobile settled the lawsuit,eliminated the charges andis in the process of compensating Greenlaw and about 23,000other clients.
Cell-phone companies have been accused of using vague terms—like "local usage"and "home calling"—to keep customers confused."The contracts purport to have the right to change definitonsof home and local calling,"says Grau."Customers need to be awareof the flexibilities that companies maintain with these contracts,which are presented on a take-it-or-leave-it basis."
5.There's no such thing as a cheap phone."Sign up with SprintPCS—which,unlike most carriers,requires no year-long servicecontract—and you may feel you're not making much of a commitment.Sure,you might pay a lot of money for a state-of-the-art phone(up to 
400).But,you figure,if you don't like the service,you'll just switch.True.But you'll also own an expensivepaperweight.
Digital phones from one carrier such as AT&T Wireless,AirTouchCellular or Sprint PCS—often do not work with others in thesame area.Mark Lowenstein of Yankee Group,a Boston-basedtechnology consulting firm,explains:"They offer their serviceson different spectrums"that aren't compatible.
What about plans like AT&T's Digital One Rate,which can operatewith phones such as the snazzy Nokia 6162,available at acompanysubsidizd rate?to get a cheaper phone,"AT&T will requireyou to sign a contract,"says Bruce Kasrel,senior analyst withForrester Research,a Cambridge,Mass,marketresearch firm."Eitherway,you pay."
6."People will think you're a jerk."Does it make you feelimportant when your cell phone rings in public?Well,you'd betterthink again,People at a recent concert in New York were notimpressed.Salesman Domenick Marmorato explains,"The guy next tome picked up his cell phone and began a conversation:'Yeah,we're at a Neil Young concert,and people are angry because I'mtalking.'Finally he was kicked out,but at 75 a ticketit's ridiculous to hear somebody else's conversation insteadof the music."
At top restaurants these days,bringing in a cell phone isbecoming as gauche as lighting up a Camel.And as leafletsdistributed on a Connecticut train put it,"Cell phones arerude."
据估计，目前美国的移动电话用户已达到8,000万人，也许你就是，或者即将是其中的一员。而移动电话供应商们所希望看到的是，你们对他们的幕后活动知道得越少越好。
1.“遇到紧急情况可别指望我们。”许多用户都相信移动电话在关键时刻会帮大忙。奥兰多地区一位做过护士的小姐也曾这么想过。有一天，她骑着一辆轻便摩托车走在崎岖的小路上，突然看到前面一个脚穿溜冰鞋的人猛地摔倒了，她连忙取出移动电话通知警方。
“离事故地点最近的无线通信网站应该会接收到这一信号并转给俄勒治县的警察局，”佛罗里达州雷克县的无线通信系统负责人布鲁斯·西奥本解释说。可事与愿违，发出的信号阴差阳错地传到了另外一个地方，被那里的报警电话话务员收到了。后来又花掉许多宝贵的时间才把该信号转回到正确的地方。当急救服务队最终赶到现场时，那个人早已因心脏病突发死掉了。
西奥本说：“发生这种事我们应该受到指责。”如果你以为在任何紧急情况下都能通过移动电话获得帮助，那你就想错了。重新考虑一下吧！
即便你打通了电话，还是会有很多麻烦。因为大多数警察局对于无线电话发出的求救信号都无法找到其确切位置。现在联邦通信委员会已要求无线电信产业在2001年推出相应的电话定位系统，这无疑是件大好事。
2.“移动电话绝对不会取代家用电话。”你是否曾想过回到家后切断家里的所有电话线而全部使用手机通话？假如你家有三口人或者更多，你这么做无异于发疯。
当然，这样做也未尝不可——如果你不介意接电话也要付钱，能够接受移动电信网某些地区覆盖不到的事实，而且也不需要通过调制解调器连接上网的话。
值得商榷的是，对于极少数——特别是那些经常在外面跑的人来说，移动电话确实是个好东西。因为移动电话所免费提供的额外服务是他们很需要的，例如来电显示和语音信箱功能。
然而，你还是得留心点儿，即使你每次通话都是按计划好的时间进行，结果你会发现，支付的话费还是比想像的要多。
3.“身处移动电话的无效地带，你的生活会变得一团糟。”《通讯日报》的资深编辑史蒂夫·盖曼，当时正处在离南卡罗来纳州府半英里的地方，突然发现自己收不到别人打进来的电话，这种情形持续了好几天。
还有更糟的呢！盖曼回忆说：“在弗吉尼亚州的夏南多纳河谷时，我本可以用手机打电话的，但如果那样的话，最后就得用信用卡来支付话费了。”这一切都表明AT&T Wireless的电信网并没有像它在广告上宣传的那样，天涯海角无处不及。事实上，当时在那个地方它既没有自己开展服务也没有合作伙伴。“如果你再看一下该公司的财政结算表，你会发现尚有4%的国土有待覆盖。”他补充说道，“但是他们如果声称自己是‘全国联通网’，就应该说到做到。”
因此，在你到一家电信公司注册前，必须弄清楚，该公司的电话网是否覆盖了所有那些对你来说很重要的地区。
4.“迷惑不解的用户会是我们最好的顾客。”来自新罕布什尔州巴恩斯坦德的萨缪尔·格劳林曾和贝尔大西洋移动电话公司签过协议。贝尔公司曾向他许诺不收取陆线电话费，也就是说，在当地格劳林可以免费用手机打陆线电话。
可后来他发现自己的电话账单竟包括了这笔费用，便向该公司提出质疑。尽管当时他们作了更正，但该项收费并未真正终止。格劳林同与他经常在一起打壁球的朋友查尔斯·格劳提起这件事。格劳曾是该州首席检查官领导下的消费者权益保护委员会负责人。格劳代表格劳林及该州的其他一些移动电话用户向法庭起诉了贝尔公司。意识到自己向用户收取的话费确实有误，贝尔公司很快就了结了此案，答应免除那些附加费用，并且正在补偿格劳林及其他23,000位移动电话用户所受的损失。
曾经有人指控移动电话公司故意使用一些模棱两可的术语——“本地使用”和“国内电话”来迷惑消费者。“其实很多协议都规定了电话公司保留对这些术语的解释权。”格劳说，“消费者必须意识到，这些移动电话公司执行协议时经常是灵活多变的，协议上的条款他们可能会逐一履行，也可能会丢在一边，置之不理。”
5.“使用移动电话绝对不便宜。”和其他电信公司不同，Sprint PCS并不要求用户同它签订长达一年的服务协议，这会让你觉得自己并没有对公司作出多大的承诺。尽管你得花一大笔钱买它最新款的手机（价值近400美元）。但想想既然没有协议的承诺，自己若是不满意那里的服务就马上换台嘛。你确实可以这么做，但这样一来，你无异于买了一个昂贵的镇纸。
不同品牌的数字手机，譬如来自AT&T Wireless、Airtouch Cellular和SprintCPS等不同的公司，通常不能进行合作，即使是它们在同一地区使用。马克·罗文斯坦来自扬基集团——波士顿的一家技术咨询公司，他向我们解释道：“产生这种情况主要是因为手机品牌不同，工作频谱也不同，不能相互兼容。”
由AT&T公司开发的Digital One Rate可以和最新款的诺基亚6162共同作业。为了推广这个品牌，该公司计划出资补贴其用户的话费——这一举措大家觉得怎么样？但如果你想买的是比较便宜的那一种，布鲁斯·卡斯瑞尔说：“你要和公司签订协议，无论选哪一种，最后付钱的都是你自己。”他是位资深的市场分析专家，来自马萨诸塞州坎布里奇的福雷斯特研究中心。
6.“大家会认为你是个傻瓜。”你的手机在公共场所响起的时候，真的会让你觉得自己是个重要人物吗？也许事实恰恰相反。例如，在最近纽约举行的一场音乐会上，人们对那种人不屑一顾。
销售员多姆尼克·玛摩陀告诉我们：“当时坐在我旁边的那个家伙手机响了，他接起后开始说：‘对，我们正在欣赏尼尔扬的音乐，因为我接听电话，周围的这些人正对我怒目而视呢。’最后他被赶了出去。的确，我们花75美元买了票来这里，如果不去欣赏音乐，而去听别人闲聊，不是太荒唐可笑了吗！”
如今，在一些高档饭店携带手机者和吸烟者一样，都被视为是举止不雅，缺乏教养的人。正如同肯塔基州火车上散发的传单写的一样，“移动电话——粗鲁的象征。”